by Sarah Brunskill, Kate Zu, and Gaby Lops
Did someone say WAFFLES? Eggos? I guess that’s just in the tv show, Stranger Things. Stranger Things is a great, binge-worthy show to watch with friends. Taking place in the 1980s in a small town called Hawkins, Indiana, five friends deal with big-town secrets. The fourth season comes out sometime in the next year. In the meantime, here are some recaps to get you caught up. (Spoiler alerts if you haven’t seen the show!)
Starting the show off, a young Will Byers disappears into an alternate universe called The Upside Down. In The Upside Down, everything is the opposite of Hawkins, Indiana, and it’s dangerous. The government keeps secrets there, such as the lab that Eleven–a young girl with powers–escapes from. Three of Will Byers’ friends meet Eleven, and they work together to find Will and become friends. At the same time, other civilians disappear because of a frightening demogorgon, a monster from The Upside Down. Viewers learn that the demogorgon also took Will. Will’s four friends rescue him and fight the demogorgon, but when Eleven kills it, she disappears.
The beginning of season two reveals Eleven is alive, living deep in the forest in a cabin with Hopper, the town sheriff. A monster called the Mind Flayer has connected itself inside Will’s mind as a host, forcing Will to be a spy for it. Season 2 introduces a new character, Max, who joins the group of friends. In this season, the Mind Flayer unleashes a lot of demogorgons upon Hawkins, and the group of friends work together to kill them. Eleven uses her powers to defeat the Mind Flayer, which frees the connection to Will’s mind. The Mind Flayer isn’t actually killed, however. It lingers in The Upside Down ‘till it’s able to escape.
Starting off the latest season of Stranger Things, Dustin accidentally intercepts a Russian radio. Dustin, Lucas’s little sister, Robin (Steve’s friend), and Steve (Will’s sister’s former boyfriend) find themselves trapped in a Russian base hidden thousands of miles underground. From this Russian base, the Mind Flayer is released. The Mind Flayer connects itself to Max’s step brother just as it did to Will. This time, it uses her brother to kill other people throughout the town and it uses their bodies to create itself in its true form. The Mind Flayer evens the match between Eleven and itself. Working together, the friends defeat the Mind Flayer, but kill Max’s step brother as a result. Season 3 ends with a cliffhanger–Hopper finds the Russian base, which holds one of the only entrances to The Upside Down, and in order to shut down the machine that keeps the portal open, Will’s mother presses the button to destroy it while Hopper is still in the room. It seems like he died, but viewers are unsure of what really happened.
Who knows what season 4 has in store for us? Did Hopper really die? Will the upside down open back up? Will there be new creatures or will the demogorgons, demodogs, or Mind Flayer come back? Will Eleven survive the next season? As many viewers are on the edge of their seats, Netflix confirmed season 4 of Stranger Things will be coming out. Although it’s unclear when it will air, the first trailer for season 4 releases on November 13, so we can get a hint at what’s to come soon!
